Method of and apparatus for doffing yarns in the centrifugal pot spinning process



Nov. 4, 1969 smssnu 'MATSUOKA ET AL 3,475,891

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR DOFFING YARNS IN THE CENTRIF'UGAL POT SPINNING PROCESS 9 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 6. 1968 Nov. 4, 1969 SHIGERU MATSUOKA ET AL 3,475,891

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR DOFFING YARNS IN THE CENTRIFUGAL POT SPINNING PROCESS 9 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. e, 1968 1969 SHIGERU MATSUOKA ET AL' 3,475,891

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR DOFFING YARNS IN THE CENTRIFUGAL POT SPINNING PROCESS Filed Feb. 6, 1968 9 Sheets-Sheet 5 Nov. 4, 1969 SHIGERU MATSUOKA ET AL 3,475,891

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR DOFFING YARNS IN THE CBNTRIFUGAL POT SPINNING PROCESS Filed Feb. 6. 1968 9 Sheets-Sheet 4 SHIGERU MATSUOKA ET AL METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR DOFFING YARNS IN THE Nov. 4, 1969 3,475,891

CENTRIFUGAL POT spnmme PROCESS 9 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 6, 1968 Nov. 4, 1969 SHIGERU MATSUOKA ET AL 3,475,891

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR DOFFING YARNS IN THE CENTRIFUGAL POT SPINNING PROCESS 9 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Feb. 6, 1968 Nov. 4, 1969 sm E u MATSUOKA ET AL 3,475,891

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR DQFFING YARNS IN THE CENTRIFUGAL POT SPINNING PROCESS Filed Feb. 6, 1968 9 Sheets-Sheet 7 I s I I z I i I l Nov. 4, 1969 sm MATSUOKA ET AL 3,475,891

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR DOFFING YARNS IN was CENTRIF'UGAL POT SPINNING PROCESS Filed Feb. 6, 1968 9 Sheets-Sheet a Nov. 4, 1969 SHIGERU MATSUOKA ET AL 3,475,891

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR DOFFING YARNS IN THE CENTRIFUGAL POT SPINNING PROCESS Filed Feb. 6. 1968 9 Sheets-Sheet 9 United States Patent Ofiice 3,475,891 Patented Nov. 4, 1969 US. CI. 57-34 16 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method of dofiing yarns comprising the steps of trailing yarns being spun into spinning pots in a lateral direction, taking out formed cakes from the pots while gathering the laterally trailed yarns, ejecting fluid toward the funnel tubes after the cake removal, and cutting yarns immediately thereafter so as to allow the ejected fluid to guide the cut ends of the yarns into the pots through the funnel tubes, and an apparatus used in working the said doffing method.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation-in-part application of the pending US. patent application No. 315,071 filed Oct. 9, 1963, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to methods and apparatus for spinning yarn and, more particularly, to the dotting of yarn.

Description of the prior art The centrifugal process of spinning artificial fibers, is generally known. Yarns or filaments which have been coagulated and regenerated are after the processes of stretching and straining, wound through funnel tubes on the inside of spinning pots rotating at high speed and form cakes. A series of processes to take out the thusly formed cakes is called dofling, in the process of doffing, the run of yarns to be spun is temporarily suspended, the rotation of the spinning pots is stopped, the operation of the machine is started again after the cakes have been taken out, and the cut ends of the yarns to be spun are guided into the spinning pots. All this has hitherto been manually done. The manual method was always attended by such problems that great skill was required to carry out such a process and a large number of workers was necessary.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method and apparatus to effect the yarn dofiing process not manually but mechanically. Apparatus according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention consists of a device which trails and guides the yarns running into the spinning pots to the yarn spool and winds it on the yarn spool before the cakes formed in the spinning pots are taken out, an ejection device including fluid ejection nozzles to guide the yarns into the spinning pots again after the cakes are taken out of the spinning pots, and a yarn cutting device to cut the yarns wound on the yarn spool to guide their cut ends into the spinning pots for forming new cakes.

Further explanation of the invention will be given with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an elevational front view of the apparatus illustrating the general arrangement of essential parts;

FIG. 2 is a left-hand side elevational view of the same;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view, partially broken away, of the guide rail, edge and guide pieces;

FIG. 4 is a side view illustrating the ejection nozzle and edge guide fixed to the guide rail;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the guide piece;

FIG. 6 shows the ejection nozzle in detail, FIG. 6(A) being a side view, FIG. 6(B) being a sectional view, FIG. 6(C) being bottom view, and FIG. 6(D) being an oblique view of the same;

FIG. 7 is a front view showing the manner in which yarns are wound on the yarn spool;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the same;

FIG. 9 is a left hand side view of the yarn spool and traversing rod;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing the valve and the cam device to operate the valve;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of the same taken on the line A-A in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is an elevational front view showing the situation of the cam plate for operating the valve;

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of the same;

FIG. 14 is a sectional view of the same taken on the line B-B in FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is an oblique view showing the manner in which yarn is cut by the yarn cutter;

FIG. 16 is a fragmentary front elevational View of an apparatus in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention and illustrating the general arrangement of essential parts relating to the dofiing operation;

FIGS. 17 and 18 are a left-hand side elevational view and a top plan view of same;

FIG. 19 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the operation of the yarn trailing device;

FIG. 20 is a perspective view showing the manner in which the yarns are introduced into the funnel tubes after they have been cut by yarn cutters;

FIG. 21 is a perspective view showing the manner in which the yarn cutters are rocked or tripped into and out of the operative position;

FIG. 22 is a perspective view showing the yarn trailing device in detail;

FIG. 23 is a plan view showing the mounting of same;

FIGS. 24 and 25 are a front view and a left-hand side elevation of same;

FIG. 26 is a left-hand side elevation, partially broken away, of the fluid ejector device and yarn guide;

FIG. 27 is a front view of same;

FIG. 28 is a bottom view of the fluid nozzle;

FIG. 29 is a cross-sectional view of same taken along the line Z-Z' in FIG. 28;

FIG. 30 is a plan view of the yarn cutters;

FIGS. 31 and 32 are a front and a left-hand side view of same;

FIGS. 33 and 34 are perspective views of further forms of yarn cutter; and

FIGS. 35 and 36 are perspective views illustrating further yarn cutting arrangements.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the yarns A which have come out of the spinning acid bath after being coagulated and regenerated run around the lower godet 1 and upper 3 godet 2, pass through the funnel tubes 3 and are wound on the inside of the spinning pot 4.

A Spinning machine consists of a large number of such apparatus arranged back to back in two rows, each of which includes 50 or 60 spinning positions. Just below the upper rollers 2 in a spinning machine a guide rail 5 is held laterally and horizontally from the left side to the right side of the machine. Inside the guide rail 5, a guide piece 6 and a rope 7 are arranged. The guide piece 6 is made to run by the reciprocation or circular movement of the rope 7, while the guide rail 5 itself is arranged to make horizontal movement. To the guide rail 5 fluid ejection nozzles 10 and edge guides 11 are fixed at the positions just facing the spinning positions. The limit of the horizontal movement of the guide rail 5 is equal to the distance between stoppers 14 and 14 fixed on both sides of a stopping pin 13. At the right side of the spinning machine and below the guide rail 5 a yarn spool 12 is fixed and, on the left of the yarn spool 12, a traversing rod 15 is also provided. Above the upper rollers 2, a cam rail 16 is fixed laterally and horizontally from the left side to the right side of the spinning machine, inside which a cam device 18 for operating a valve and a rope 17 are arranged so that the cam device 18 can be moved by operating the rope 17 by suitable means. To the cam rail 16, fluid feeders 19 are fixed at positions above the ejection nozzles 10 and are connected to the ejection nozzles and to a fluid pipe 20.

While the guide rail 5 is moved horizontally, the cam rail 16 is fixed and not movable. The guide rail is moved, slightly from the right to the left or vice versa longitudinally horizontally by the movement of a piston in an air cylinder provided outside of the spinning machine, which cylinder is not shown in the application. The movable range of the guide rail is the space between the stoppers 14 and 14 shown in FIG. 1. The air cylinder is operated by opening and closing a cock valve provided on an air tube which communicates with the air cylinder. The cam rail 16 is fixed to the spinning machine above the upper godet 2 in parallel to and in substantially the same length as the guide rail, and does not make any movement by itself horizontally or laterally. The cam rail 16 is provided to guide the cam 18 which is driven by the rope 17.

All of the parts that are employed in an apparatus of the present invention are made of acid proof and anticorrosive metals or synthetic resins. Further detailed explanation of the structure of the individual parts is as follows. The guide rail 5 which is a pipe made of for example, vinyl chloride, has a guide piece 6 which can run horizontally along a slot 51 made at the bottom of the guide rail 5, as shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. Further, the guide rail 5, being held horizontally, is curved frontwards to form a bend 52 just above the yarn spool 12, as shown in FIG. 8.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the guide piece 6 consists of an arm 62 inserted in a sliding piece 61 and fitted in the slot 51. The sliding piece 61 which is fixed to the rope 7 at both ends, is a cylinder of outer diameter slightly smaller than the bore diameter of the guide rail 5, whereby the sliding piece 61 can easily slide on the inside of the guide rail 5, and of length short enough to easily pass through the bend 52 of the guide rail 5. To the lower part of the arm 62 supporting plates 63 and 64 are fixed at right angles with suitable space between two supporting plates. A yarn gripper 8 and a yarn cutter 9 are fixed respectively to the lower supporting plate 63 and the upper supporting plate 64 with pins 81 and 91 in such a way that the yarn gripper 8 and the yarn cutter 9 are permitted to turn around. When they have turned around to the positions shown in FIG. 3, they are held stably by means of stoppers 82 and 92.

The yarn gripper 8 and the yarn cutter 9, mounted on the guide piece 6, are operated manually. In trailing the yarn by running the guide piece in the direction of the yarn spool 12, the yarn gripper 8 only is extended forwardly of FIG. 1 so as to hook the yarn being spun vertically from the upper godet 2 into the spinning pot 4. In this case, the yarn cutter is disposed laterally. Upon completion of the trailing with the yarn gripper in raised position, the yarn gripper is brought down manually and the cake is removed from the pot. At the time of resuming the spinning, the yarn trailed and wound on the yarn spool 12 must be cut by causing the yarn cutter 9 to run so that the cut end of the yarn is guided towards the pot with the fluid from the ejection nozzle 10. This can be done by pulling only the yarn cutter forwardly and letting it contact the yarn during its passage above the yarn guide 112. The yarn is easily cut upon contact with the yarn cutter and guided into the pot by the fluid. When the yarn cutter has reached the end of its stroke after cutting the yarns on all spindles provided in the spinning machine, the cutter is brought down manually. This operation is repeated at each doffing.

The ejection nozzle 10 is made of, for example, a pipe 101 with an inner diameter of about 2-3 mm. bent as shown in FIG. 6, with a vertical slot 103 on the right side or the side facing the yarn when trailing the yarn into the inside bore 102 of the pipe. Further, the nozzle 10 has a guide plate 104 which comprises two plates extending from the slot 103 radially in the outward direction at a suitable angle to each other for guiding the yarn into the slot 103 when trailing the yarn. As shown in FIG. 4, the ejection nozzle 10 is welded to the guide rail 5 at such a position that its bore 102 comes on the same perpendicular line as the funnel tube 3, on leftward movement of the gate rail 5, so that the yarn can be guided into the slot 103 by the guide plate 104.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the edge guide 11 consrsts of a shaped arm 111 and a yarn guide 113 consistmg of a bow shaped porcelain bar fixed in the lower end of the arm 111. The upper part 111' of the arm 111 is fixed to the guide rail 5 on the right of the ejection nozzle 10 in FIG. 3 in such a way that the inserted part 113 of the yarn guide 112 points frontwards and so that the yarn guide 112 is positioned between the yarn gripper 8 and the yarn cutter 9 of the guiding device 6. As shown m FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, the yarn spool is a cylinder with notches 121 on the forward end in which the yarns guided by the yarn gripper 8 of the guiding device are taken because the yarns are hooked by the notches as the yarn guide 6 passes in front of the yarn spool 12 by being guided by the curved portion 52 of the guide rail 5 and returns to its normal straight linear path. The yarns are wound on the yarn spool in a manner shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. As shown in FIG. 9, the traversing rod has a G-shaped yarn guide 15' fixed at its upper end. The yarn guide 15' is located slightly higher than the top of the yarn spool 12 so that the yarns to be wound on the yarn spool 12 may automatically enter the G-shaped yarn guide 15. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 9, a rotary eccentric disc 22 is connected with a conventional driving source (not shown) for rotation. A rod 24 is connected to the rotary eccentric disc 22 through a bearing 23 provided at a point in the proximity of the outer periphery of said disc so that the rod makes a reciprocatory motion. The other end of the rod 24 is connected to the lower end of the traversing rod 15 at a point 25 and thereby the traversing rod 15 makes traversing motion to right and left in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 9 about a fulcrum 26 provided above the joint 25.

The main shaft of the yarn spool 12 is connected with the automatic rotation control means, so that the peripheral velocity will not increase greatly even when the outer diameter of the yarn winding on the yarn spool becomes greater with the passage of time. However, since the control speed is constant, when the yarns winding is localized on the peripheral surface of the yarn spool, resulting in a rapid increase of the outer diameter of the wound yarn, the winding velocity rises to give the yarns an excessive tension presenting a cause of breakage. In order to control the peripheral velocity of the yarn winding so as to match with a predetermined value under the control of the automatic rotation control means, it is necessary to wind the yarns on the peripheral surface of the yarn spool uniformly by causing them to be axially displaced.

The cam rail 16, made of the same material as that which the guide rail 5 is made of, has a sliding slot 16' on the top, as shown in FIGS. and 11.

The fluid feeder 19 consists of, as shown in FIG. 10, a valve 193 pressed down against a valve seat of a valve chamber in the body 191 by a spring 192, a valve rod 194 fixed to the valve 193 passing through hte body, protruding upwards and bent at a right angle at its upper part, a roller 195 fixed to the top end of the valve rod 194 and a flexible tube 21 which connects the valve chamber with the ejection nozzle as shown in FIG. 1. When the roller 195 is pushed up, the valve 193 connected to the valve rod 194 is pulled up and fluid is fed through a branch fluid pipe 196 connected to the main fluid pipe 20, on the other hand, when the roller is pushed down, the valve 193 is pushed down by the spring 192 and blocks the valve port to cutofi feeding. The device 19, should be fixed to the cam rail 16 at such a position (FIG. 1) that the roller 195 is situated above the cam rail 16 and at a height to be engaged and pushed up by the cam 18, and it is connected to the ejection nozzle 10 through the flexible tube 26, While the branch fluid pipe 96 is connected to the main fluid pipe 20.

As shown in FIGS. 12, 13 and 14, the cam device 18 which is provided to operate the valve comprises a cam plate 181 which is fixed at the one end by a pin 184 to supporting brackets 183 and 183' fixed to the sliding piece 182. Plate 181 can turn round and be folded into the slot of the sliding piece 182. When the cam plate 181 is kept in the slot of the sliding piece 182, it does not touch the roller 195 of the feeding device even if it is moved. Therefore, when operation of the roller 195 is required, the cam plate 181 should be pulled out and turned around 180 degrees to the position indicated as 181. The cam plate 181 is made to move by the sliding piece 182 which is fixed to the rope 17 and is operated by puling the rope 17.

The basic mechanism of the present invention has the structure described above. Next, the series of operations performed by the individual devices or parts will be explained with reference to FIG. 1. Until doffing, the pin 13 of the guide rail 5 abuts stopper 14', which keeps the ejection nozzles 10 and the edge guides 11 at the positions indicated in broken line away from the running yarns A. For doffing, when the guide rail 5 is moved so that the pin 13 is brought against stopper 14, the ejection nozzles 10 assume the positions indicated in solid line and catch the running yarns. In this situation, when the guiding device 6 with the yarn gripper 8 thrust outwardly is moved along the guide rail 5 at a speed corresponding to the spinning velocity for the first time by operating the rope 7, the yarns A running into the spinning pots 4 are gripped by the yarn gripper 8, guided to the yarn spool 12 via the yarn guide 112, hooked by the notches 121 in the yarn spOOl 12, and wound on the yarn spool 12, whereby the run of the yarns into the spinning pots may be cutoff between the yarn spool 12 and the pots 4. During this suspension, the rotation of the pots 4 is stopped and the cakes are taken out. Then the guiding device 6 with the yarn gripper 8 restored to inactive position is returned to its original position by reciprocation or circular movement of the rope 7. After the cakes are taken out to active position, the yarn cutter 9 is pulled out and the guiding device 6 is moved along the guide rail for the second time. However, just before the second run of the guiding device 6, the cam device 18 for operating the valve is moved along the cam rail 16 to make the cam plate 181 push up the roller 195 of the feeding device 19, whereby the valve 193 is pulled up to let fluid pass and be ejected by the ejection nozzles 10. Almost at the same time that the fluid is ejected, the yarn cutter 9 of the guiding device 6 running along the guide rail 5 passes above the yarn guides 112 of the edge guide 11 and the yarn A being wound on the yarn spool 12 through the yarn guides 112 is cut as shown by the solid line in FIG. 15. The cut ends of the yarns A are guided by the ejected fluid, fall with the fluid into the funnel tubes 3, and are guided into the spinning pots 4 wherein they are wound. The yarns A wound on the yarn spool 12 are disposed as waste yarn.

Next, another apparatus embodying the present invention will be explained in reference to FIG. 16 and the other figures in the acompanying drawings.

The dofling operation is effected while maintaining the filaments A travelling from the spinneret (not shown) to the last godet 203 in the state of being spun as in the preceding embodiment. This dofling system includes a yarn trailing device 206 and a yarn lead-out device 207 which cooperate guide to the filaments A being spun into the spinning pots 204. The system also include a thread cutter 208 and fluid ejector device 209 operable after the removal of cakes from the spinning pots 204 to cut the filaments A being fed and at the same time introduce them into the pots 204 by fluid streams or jets D. In the event that there are no filaments running along their normal path from the last godet 203 to the spinning pot 204, as when the spinning operation has just been initiated, the operator is merely required to direct the filaments A to the lead-out device 207 through the last godet 203 by manual or mechanical means preparatory to the use of the dofiing method of this invention. In normal spinning conditions, however, such procedure is seldom required.

The dofling method of the present invention will next be described in the order of the steps involved.

At the start of the dofling operation, as illustrated in FIG. 19, the filaments A extending from the corresponding godet 203 through the funnel tube 205 to the spinning pot 204 at each spinning position are engaged by the yarn trailing device 206 at a point C between the last godet 203 and funnel tube 205. The yarn trailing device 206 proceeds from the left end of the machine to the right end thereof to successively collect the yarns at the respective spinning positions and the bundle of yarns collected at the right end of the machine are led out by yarn lead-out device 207. It should be understood that, in the actual machine, after the yarns being spun in one row of spinning positions have been collected into a bundle at one end of the machine, the yarn bundle is turned around the machine end by a turning roll (not shown) so that all the yarns being spun on the machine are collected together at the other end thereof. In the drawings, however, the machine is illustrated as having only a single row of spinning positions at the front side thereof for claritys sake.

A description will now be made of the process of leading out the yarns. In each of the spinning positions provided below the last godet 203 is a fluid main pipe 292 including a yarn guide 262 and a fluid ejecting nozzle 291. The yarn trailing device 206 includes a yarn trailer 261 (FIG. 19) which is arranged to run from left to right below the yarn guides 262. The yarn lead-out device 207 is arranged at the right-hand end of the machine, as illustrated in FIG. 16.

As the yarn trailer 261 proceeds, engaging the filaments or yarn A being spun at each spinning position, the yarn previously extending from the last godet 203 through funnel tube 205 to spinning pot 204 is bent at the bottom of the ejecting nozzle 291 and then at the lower end of the yarn guide 262 to the pulled rightward at a speed corresponding to the spinning speed and is thus caught by the trailer 261 and is cut by a cutter at the bottom 7 end of the trailer 261 and brought to the yarn lead-out device 207.

As is clearly seen in FIGS. 22, 23, 24, and 25, the yarn trailer 261 includes a yarn gripper opening in the direction in which it proceeds and comprising a stack of fang-like elements 611, 612, 613, 614, 615 curved outwardly and alternately in opposite directions. As the yarn gripper proceeds to engage and trail the yarns A successively, their paths are bent angularly with increasing sharpness so that they are forced more deeply into the opening of the gripper and held therein. Arranged integrally with and directly beneath the yarn gripper 611 to 615 is a yarn cutter which includes three cutter blades 616, 617, 618 laminated one on another. Each blade is shaped in profile like gripper elements 611 to 615, the middle blade 617 being curved in the direction opposite to that in which the other two blades 616 and 618 are curved. The yarn cutter including blades 616 to 618 is also opened in the direction of its travel, each of the cutter blades being provided with a cutting edge. As the yarn trailer 261 preceeds, the yarns A caught by the yarn gripper are automatically directed into the cutter due to tension therein and severed from the yarn legs extending through the respective funnel tubes 205. The yarn trailer 261 may have any other form as long as it functions as described above. For example, the middle blade of the yarn cutter may take the form of a rotary blade 617' rotatably mounted on a vertical pin 619', as shown in FIG. 33, or a rocking blade 617" mounted on a vertical pin 619" for arcuate reciprocatory movement, as shown in FIG. 34.

An endless arrangement is provided to drive the yarn trailer 261 along the machine frame and as clearly seen in FIG. 18 includes an endless chain 212 passing over pulleys 210, 210, mounted at the opposite ends of the machine frame to extend about the periphery thereof and adapted to be driven from the main drive system (not shown) of the machine. As clearly shown in FIGS. 23 to 25, the yarn trailer 261 is secured to the endless chain 212 and carried with rollers 260 and 321, which runs along a guide rail 211 extending longitudinally along the machine frame. Though, in the illustrated embodiment, the drive chain 212 is operated to circulate about the machine frame, it may alternatively be arranged to effect reciprocatory motion. In this case, the yarn collecting and other associated operations are effected during the chain movement in one direction and, in the opposite direction movement serves only to restore the yarn trailing device 206 to its starting or normal position. Though the arrangement described above includes a chain element, it may be replaced by a rope, wire or any other known drive element, as will readily be understood.

As shown in FIG. 25, the yarn trailer 261 is mounted on its support for pivotal movement about a pivot pin 263 and is normally biased by a spring 264 into an inner or inoperative position or an outer or operative position.

In operation, the yarn trailing device 206 is carried by the endless chain or drive element 212 from left to right as shown in FIG. 21. Arranged adjacent the inlet or left end of the machine is a tripper 213 which is rotatable into a position engageable with the yarn trailer 261 for the purpose of tripping the latter into its operative position when required for the yarn trailing operation. Another tripper 213' is arranged adjacent the outlet or right end of the machine frame immediately ahead of the yarn leadout device 207 for the purpose of tripping the yarn trailer into its inner or inoperative position. The yarn trailer 261 having passed the tripper 213 can be carried further by the drive element 212 without making contact with the yarns A or the yarn lead-out device 207 and thus never interfere with the machine operation. The tripper 213 is preferably of the movable lever type having an inoperative position allowing free passage of the yarn trailer 261 when the yarn trailing operation is not desired. The tripper 213 is stationary.

The bundle of yarns A formed at the machine end by the yarn trailer 261 is led out by the yarn lead-out device 207 to be stored as waste yarn A in an appropriate location (FIG. 20). The yarn lead-out device 207 includes a pair of rollers, Le. a drive roller 271 and a cooperating movable roller 272. The surfaces of the rollers 271 and 272 are normally held in close contact with each other in such a manner that only when yarns A pass between the rollers is there formed a gap therebetween to lead out the yarns at the same speed as the yarns are drafted. The mechanism for driving the rollers 271, 272 and forming the roller gap may take any known form and is not described herein in any further detail. In one modification (not shown) of the yarn lead-out device 207, the movable roller 272 is adapted to wind the bundle of yarns A thereon. In this form, the yarn bundle is preferably traversed in advance of the rollers 271, 272.

The cakes A formed in the spinning pots 204 are removed therefrom during the time when the yarns A are led out as described above, preparatory to forming the next cakes. As shown in FIG. .20, fluid is ejected through nozzles 291 as indicated at D' and at the same time the yarns A being led to the right are each cut by a cutting device 208 at a point B near the yarn guide 262 between the nozzle 291 and a hook-like guide portion 622 on the yarn guide 262. The cut end of the yarn A extending through the last godet 203 is positively carried by the fluid jet through the funnel tube 205 into the spinning pot 204. Specifically, the fluid ejecting or pouring device 209 includes a main fluid pipe 292 horizontally extending along the entire length of the machine and ejecting nozzles 291 connected to the main pipe 292 at the respective spinning positions. The main fluid pipe 292 has at the inlet end of the machine a valve 293 for controlling the rate of ejecting fluid and a cock 294 for opening and closing the fluid pipe, as shown in FIG. 16, and is connected to a fluid pump (not shown).

The fluid ejecting nozzles 291 are each an inverted I-shaped tubular member extending from the top wall of the main pipe 292 and having its extremity directed vertically downwardly, as illustrated in FIGS. 26 to 29. The extremity of the nozzle 291 is formed, in its wall facing in the direction opposite to that in which the yarns A are trailed, with a vertical slit 911 and a pair of diverging guide portions 912 extending radially from the opposite edges of the slit 911, which is olfset slightly to the right of the vertical line along which the yarn A depends from the associated last godet 203 in each spinning position.

The yarn guides 262 are formed intergral with the main fluid pipe 292 in the respective spinning positions slightly to the right of the associated nozzle 291, as shown in FIGS. 26 and .27. The yarn guides 262 each include a deflector 621 and a hook-like guide portion 622. The deflector 621 is shaped arcuately and positioned slightly below the bottom end of the adjacent nozzle 291. The hook-like guide portion 622 is arranged directly below the deflector 621 in spaced relation thereto.

When trailed to the right, the yarn A extending from the last godet 203 passes into in the slit 911 formed in the ejecting nozzle 291 to extend through the bottom portion of the slit 911 and over the hook-like guide portion 622. Under this condition, when the cock 294 in the main fluid pipe 292 is opened to supply thereto fluid at an optimum pressure, jet streams D are formed by the nozzles 291 extending from the bottom thereof toward the underlying funnel tubes 205 and act upon the yarns A in a direction to disengage them from the respective yarn guides 262 thereby to allow them to freely depend downward. At this time, the yarn cutting device 208 including a cutting blade 282 (FIG. 31) proceeds from left to right at a predetermined speed to cut the yarns A at a point E between the deflector 621 and the hook-like guide portion 622. The cut yarn A is first swung to strike the deflector 621 and then directed through the funnel tube 205 under gravitation and under the action of downward fluid stream D to be drawn into the spinning pot 204 and wound therein. On the other hand, the yarn A cut to separate from the last godet 203 is led out by the yarn lead-out device 207 to be disposed as waste yarn A. In the conventional doffing process, waste yarn has been formed in each of the spinning positions to be subsequently collected for disposal whereas in the present doffing system waste yarn A" formed on the entire machine can all be disposed of at the same time.

With respect to how the yarn gets into the lead-out device 207, the explanation is as follows: the movable roller 272 is rotated by being pressed against the drive roller 271 by an air cylinder (not shown) in such a manner that the peripheral surface of the former is constantly in light contact with the latter. As the yarn trailer 261 approaches the front face of the yarn lead-out device 207 while running with its gripper elements 611 to 615 gripping the yarns A, it contacts a limit switch provided in the proximity thereof to actuate the air cylinder electrically. The actuation of the air cylinder opens the movable roller 272 allowing the yarn trailer to pass through between the drive roller 271 and the movable roller 272. The limit switch connected to the tripper 2 13, which is provided to the rear of the yarn lead-out device, is actuated to actuate the air cylinder, with the consequence that the movable roller is brought in contact with the drive roller as initially. Thus, the yarns A are clamped between the rollers and start to be delivered.

The yarn cutter 208 is fixed to the drive element 212 at a point slightly to the left of the point at which the yarn trailing device 206 is fixed to the element 212 and thus is driven by the same drive system as the yarn trailing device 206 but at a predetermined speed independent therefrom.

With respect to how the devices 208 and 206 can run at predetermined independent speeds if they are both connected to the same drive element, the explanation is as follows: The description does not mean that the yarn trailing device 206 and the yarn cutter 208 run at predetermined independent speeds. It means that, while both devices run simultaneously on movement of the chain. Since both devices are fixed to the same chain 212, the running speed of the chain is varied according to the object to be achieved by the movement. In greater detail, for trailing the yarns, the chain makes the yarn trailing device run at a speed required for the device, i.e., at a speed at which the yarn trailer 261 of the yarn trailing device, which has been turned toward the front by means of the tripper 213 (in this case the cutter of the yarn cutting device is displaced backward), can hook the yarn, while at the time of yarn cutting, the chain is driven at a speed required for the yarn cutting device, i.e., a speed at which the cutting blade of the yarn cutting device, which has been turned toward the front by means of the tripper 213", can cut the yarns A. In this case, the yarn trailer 261 of the yarn trailing device 206 is retracted backward. In other words, change in running speed of both devices is effected by the operation of a mechanical driving source to which rotary pulleys 210 and 210' to drive the chain are connected.

As illustrated in FIGS. 30, 31 and 32, the yarn cutter 208 includes roller 281 and 321 arranged to proceed along the guide rail 211 and is actuated by tripper 213" mounted on the left end portion of the machine frame so that the cutter blade 282 is tripped from its inner inoperative position into its outer operative position and actuated by tripper 213 arranged on the exit or right end of the machine frame. Thus, the cutter blade 282 after it has functioned is tripped back into its inoperative position so that it can further proceed with the drive element 212 without interfering with the machine operation by direct contact with the yarns A or other machine parts. The tripper 213" is of any known movable lever type and can be held in a position not engageable with the cutter blade 282 when no yarn cutting effect is desired. As shown in FIGS. 30, 31 and 32, the cutter blade 282 is rotatably mounted on a pivot 283 and is normally biased into its inner or outer position by a spring 284 so as to be actuated from its inner to its outer position or vice versa by trippers 213 and 213", just as with the case of yarn trailer 261.

The tripper elements 213 and 213" are pivotable but the tripper element 213' is fixed. The ends of the shafts of the rotatable tripper elements 213 and 213" form a crank which has a bar extending through the end of the spinning machine on the side on which the chain and pulley 210 are located. This bar can be pushed and pulled manually and thereby the elements 213 and 213" can be rotated degrees. When the yarn trailer is required, the bar is operated so as for the element 213 to stand upward in order to bring the yarn gripper forward to be in contact with the yarns A being spun, whereupon it hits the radially opening back of the gripper of the yarn trailer 261 which is travelling while being retracted in the inner portion, and the gripper is turned to the front upon rotating about 180 degrees around the pin 263.

A similar procedure is followed when the yarn cutting device is required, the detail of which will be omitted. The tripper element 213' is fixed and disposed at the inner position of the yarn lead-out device. This tripper element 213 is placed in an inoperative position when the yarns pass this portion in both the yarn trailing operation and the yarn cutting operation.

In the above, the yarn cutter 208 and yarn trailing device 206 are illustrated as being driven by a common drive element 212 along a guide track, but, if desired, they may be arranged to be driven by respective drive elements each of the type shown at 212. The yarn cutter 208 illustrated is of the type including a cutter blade 282 adapted to proceed horizontally but any other yarn cutting mechanism may be employed as long as it is effective to cut the yarns being collected at a point below the fluid ejecting nozzle 291 and in the vicinity of the hook-like guide portion 622 at each spinning position. One alternative form is shown in FIG. 35 which includes a horizontal shaft 215 having cutter members 282 for the various spinning positions and rotatable to cut all the yarns A at one time. Another modification shown in FIG. 36 includes a longitudinally movable bar 216 and cutter members 282 pivoted intermediate their length and connected at the rear end thereof with said bar 216 so as to be operated simultaneously by the bar 216 to cut the yarns A at a point between the fluid nozzle 291 and hook-like guide portion 622.

With regard to how the activation of nozzle 291 is effected with the simultaneous operation of cutters 282 and 282", the description is as follows: The cutter 282 or the cutter 282" is operated to cut the yarns after fluid is ejected through the nozzles 291 of all spinning positions all at once by opening the cock of the fluid feeder, thus providing for guiding the yarns in the downward direction. The fluid ejection cock and a cutter operating lever (not shown) are provided at one end of the spinning machine and are operated upon actuation of a time relay and an air cylinder.

The fluid ejecting device 209 including the main fluid pipe 292 is arranged to 'be movable within a predetermined range longitudinally of the machine frame since after the yarns A extending from the last godets 203 have been restored to their normal spinning state, the fluid nozzles 291 if fixed in place might interfere with the ballooning motion of the yarns A. In other words, the entire main fluid pipe 292 is moved horizontally to the right by a predetermined distance to separate from the yarn A upon completion of the doffing operation and is moved horizontally back to the original position at the start of the doffing operation. As to how fluid pipe 292 moves horizontally, this can be effected by a simple known method. A tube support (not shown) is supported by a bracket of the spinning machine and the fluid pipe 292 is mounted on sliding rolls provided on said support for horizontal movement. The fluid pipe 292 is connected to the valve 293 for controlling the rate of ejecting fluid and the cock 294, and it is further connected to a tube (not shown) arranged between a fluid supply source and each spinning machine by way of a flexible tube which provides for horizontal movement of the fluid pipe.

The horizontal movement of the fluid pipe is effected on the side on which the valve 293 for controlling the rate of ejecting fluid and the cock 294 are provided, and the fluid pipe 292 is held by a gripping element provided at an end of a piston operative in an air cylinder at a predetermined stroke, so that the fluid pipe is moved reciprocally horizontally by the operation of the piston. Also, appropriate means are provided so that the fluid D is ejected under the same pressure through respective nozzles 291 in the spinning positions. In the foregoing description, the fluid ejecting device 209 is operable to form jet streams all at one time, but it may include valve means provided in the respective spinning positions, as illustrated in the previous embodiment, so as to be operated successively from left to right. The fluid used may be of any type as long as it can be effectively employed without interfering with the spinning conditions.

The yarn guide itself (indicated at 112 in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-15 and at 622 in the embodiment of FIGS. 1632) is fixed to the arm 111 in the first embodiment and is the trailing guide indicated at 262 in the second embodiment and is not movable. However, the edge guide 11 or the trailing guide 262, to which the yarn guide 112 or 622 is mounted, is fixed to the rope guide in the first embodiment and to the fluid ejecting nozzle 291 in the second embodiment, so that the yarn guide is carried on the rope guide 5 or the fluid ejecting nozzle 291 making horizontal movement to right and left in FIGS. 1-16. The term movement horizontally means that the yarn guide is moved longitudinally of the rope guide or the fluid ejecting nozzle. The horizontal movement of the fluid ejecting nozzle 291 or the rope guide 5 is caused by the operation of the piston in the air cylinder provided at an end of the spinning machine as has been described, and takes place in the range defined by the stoppers 14 and 14 shown in FIG. 1. It is to be noted that in the second embodiment, the stroke for the reciprocatory movement of the piston in the air cylinder is predetermined.

On the other hand, the cutter in FIGS. 1-15 is mounted on the guide piece in such a manner that it is turned at 90 degrees, while the cutter blade 282 in FIGS. 16-32 is mounted on the cutting device 208 in such a manner that it may be turned at about 180 degrees, and the cutting device is fixed to the rope or chain and carried thereby. The rope or chain is of the endless type and is driven by pulleys (indicated at 210 and 210' in FIGS. 16-32) which are driven by a mechanical driving source provided externally of the spinning machine. The mechanical driving source is provided with a clutch which is operated only when movement of the rope or the chain is desired for the travelling of the cutter.

As to the relationship between the fluid ejected through the ejecting nozzles (indicated at in FIGS. l-15 and at 291 in FIGS. 16-32), and the yarn guides and cutter, ejection of the fluid through the ejecting nozzles takes place substantially at the same time as the cutting of yarn by the travelling cutter. Precisely speaking, however, the former takes place slightly earlier than the latter, namely, the yarn is cut after ejection of the fluid for a short time. In FIGS. 1-15, fluid ejecttion is effected when the valve 193 of the fluid feeder 19 is opened by the cam 18 travelling on the cam rail 16. However, the period of fluid ejection is the period in which the cam pushes the roller 195 upward, which period is determined by the travelling speed and length of the cam 18. In FIGS, 1-15, it is arranged that the cam pushes the roller 195 upward and the valve 193 in the fluid feeder is opened for a period of, for example, from 2 to 4 seconds.

The timing of the fluid ejection with the cutter 9 is as described and this is achieved by arranging the peak portion of the cam 18 and the guide piece 6 on a vertical line and running the cam 18 and the guide piece 6 concurrently at the same speed, whereby the fluid is ejected as shortly as, for example, 0.5 to 1.0 second earlier than the yarn cutting.

In FIGS. 1632, the fluid is ejected through the ejecting nozzles 291 for each spinning position all at once upon opening of the cock 294 shown in FIG. 16, this being different from the case of FIGS. 115 wherein the fluid is ejected through the ejecting nozzles individually. At substantially the same time as the simultaneous ejection of fluid through each ejecting nozzle (by open ing the cock 294), a chain driving clutch (not shown) is manually operated to move the chain, whereupon the cutting device 208 is caused to run at a high speed, with the cutter 282 mounted thereto passing above the guide portion 622 while cutting the yarns at point E in FIG. 20. At this time, since the fluid is being ejected through the ejecting nozzles, the yarns drop, being guided by the fluid. However, the time between the fluid ejection and yarn cutting varies somewhat due to the location of the cutting device travelling, namely, since fluid ejection takes place all at once with respect to each spindle, the time interval between the fluid ejection and yarn cutting when the cutting device starts to travel is varied from the time interval when the cutting device is at the end of its travelling path by a time corresponding to the travelling time of the cutting device. This time difference does not in any manner adversely affect the cutting and guiding of the yarn.

In respect of the relationship between the yarn guides and ejectors, the yarn guide 112 in FIGS. 1l5 and 622 in FIGS. 16-32, at the point of trailing operation, has been moved to the point at which the ejecting nozzles 10 or 291 contact the yarns A being delivered vertically from the godet (indicated at 2 in FIGS. 1-15 and at 203 in FIGS. 16-32) towards the funnel (indicated at 3 in FIGS. l-15 and at 205 in FIGS. 16-32). Therefore, the edge guide 11 in fixed relation with the yarn guide or the yarn guide mounted to the yarn guide 262 (in FIGS. 16-32) are also to have been moved towards the yarns A side. However, these elements are disposed slightly downwardly rightwardly of the nozzles as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 19, so that they are not in contact with the fluid being ejected. The yarn guides serve to deflect the yarns from the godet 2 of 203 which are gathered in the direction of the yarn spool 12 (in FIGS. 1-15) or the yarn lead-out device 207 (in FIGS. 16-32), and also as a tension bar to enhance the cutting effect when the yarns are cut by the travelling cutter, and they do not directly concern with the fluid ejection.

The component devices employed in the present invention may be formed of any materials freely selected to satisfy the operating conditions of'the particular device. These materials are generally required to have a satisfactory corrosion resistance and also an excelling wear resistance. Particularly, the fluid nozzles and various forms of yarn guides are formed of titanium ceramics or other highly wear-resistant materials having lower friction coeflicients since they are always held in sliding engagement wth yarns. Also, the cutter blades are preferably formed of corrosion-resistant materials excelling in cutting quality.

As apparent from the foregoing, the present invention is highly valuable from the economic viewpoint as it makes it possible to perform the doffing operation, except for the cake removing operation, in a very short time and without error requiring at most two attandants stationed at the machine end. The present apparatus has a very simplified construction and can be attached to any existing centrifugal spinning machine with a small outlay.

What is claimed is:

1. In the centrifugal pot spinning process, a method of doifing yarns including the steps of trailing yarns being spun into respective spinning pots in a lateral direction, taking out the previously formed cakes while gathering the laterally trailed yarns, ejecting fluid toward the funnel tubes after said cakes have been removed, and cutting the yarns immediately thereafter so as to allow the ejected fluid to guide the cut ends of the yarns into the corresponding spinning pots through the funnel tubes.

2. For use with a spinning machine including a plurality of spinnng pots, funnels assocated with said pots and guides to giude yarn along yarn feeding paths into said pots apparatus comprising yarn gathering means spaced from said path, trailing means displaceable through said paths to pull the yarns from said paths and bring the same to the yarn gathering means, said gathering means gathering said yarns temporarily while said pots are emptied, means to out said yarns to prepare for resuming the collecting of the yarns in said pots, and fluid ejecting means to drive the thusly cut yarns along said paths into said pots.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said trailing means includes a cutting blade to cut the yarns as the latter are pulled to said gathering means.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein said trailing means further includes a pivoted hook having an operative position in which to engage said yarns and a retracted position to permit movement of the trailing means without contacting the yarns in said paths.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 comprising cam means to operate said ejecting means.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein said ejecting means comprises tubes each with an axial slit, fins on the tubes to guide the yarns into the slits, and a hook below the slit to guide yarns extending from the slits to said gathering means.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 comprising guide means for distributing the yarns evenly on the gathering means.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7 wherein the gathering means includes an axially notched spool.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 comprising guide means for guiding the trailing means through said paths and to and from said gathering means.

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 9 comprising means for driving said trailing means in an endless path traversing the yarn paths.

11. Apparatus as claimed in claim 9 comprising means forldriving said trailing means in an oscillatory path back and forth through said yarn paths.

12. Apparatus as claimed in claim 9 wherein said guide means includes a hollow rail with a longitudinal opening therein, a movable element in said rail and supporting said trailing means, and a cable connected to the said element to move the same.

13. Apparatus as claimed in claim 9 wherein said guide means includes an endless chain.

14. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 comprising means to move the ejecting means in a direction normal to the yarn paths.

15. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said ejecting means includes a V-shaped tube having an end slit and fins forming a guide into said slit.

16. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said trailing means includes a plurality of alternately and oppositely curved tines and cutting blades below the tines.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,431,617 11/1947 Martinez 5734 2,466,872 4/1949 Whisnant et al. 57-34 JOHN PETRAKES, Primary Examiner U.S. C1. X.R. 57-345, 52, 157 

